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Tag: EU

GDPR: How Businesses Will Be Affected

CCTV cameras looking at couple

Do you know who’s watching you?

What is the GDPR?

On April 27, 2016, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was adopted in the European Union after four years of negotiations. This law will strengthen data protection for individuals residing in the European Union (EU).

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Privacy Regulation: US vs. EU

Comparing Both Sides of The Pond

Internet-based applications are building up privacy concerns worldwide. The UN has even named privacy in its Universal Declaration of Human Rights. How exactly does privacy regulation differ in the United States and in the European Union? See below for the top ways in which privacy regulation varies between these two large economies.

 

UR is a web browser focused on user privacy. Learn more more about the privacy feature here.

EU Not Confident that US Will Uphold Privacy Shield

US-EU flags merge

The Privacy Shield may be in limbo according the EU officials. With the FCC recently rolling back internet privacy rules, the EU is concerned about the future of the US-EU Privacy Shield.

The European Parliament voted on a resolution last week that would ask the European Commission (the executive branch of the EU) to ensure that Europeans’ data is being protected, as agreed upon in the US-EU Privacy Shield.

The Privacy Shield came into effect in July 2016, after the previous Safe Harbor agreement was declared invalid by European courts in 2015. Less than a year into it, the Privacy Shield is on the rocks—the object of two lawsuits, and to date, lacking an ombudsman to oversee complaints.

Read more on The Daily Dot.

 

UR is a secure web browser based in the European Union. Our goal? Protecting your data. Find out more about privacy in UR.

 

Connected Devices: The EU is concerned

European Union and Connected Devices

Should you de-connect your connected devices?

From sports brands to pharmaceutical corporations, companies worldwide are gathering more data than ever due to boost of Internet connected devices now integrated into their IT infrastructure.

By May 2018, new European Union rules related to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will go into effect and could potentially interfere with companies that bank on collecting and processing user data for their businesses.

So, what’s the problem?

The dilemma for these companies experimenting with Artificial Intelligence (AI) begins with profiling, which is essentially the ability for companies to use automation to determine certain characteristics of their individual users.

When companies use data analytics and related automation technologies to predict whether someone is likely to be a good worker or be more prone to a specific illness, that business is taking part in profiling.

“Companies need to carefully determine how to use their various types of data for different purposes that don’t potentially put them at risk of a violation. In some cases, that may mean a company should leave out certain demographic data when debuting a specific service overseas.”

Executives of major tech companies like Cisco and Microsoft are advocating for the technology community to “explain very well” complex and misunderstood AI technologies to policy makers who may be ill-informed. 

As the EU prides itself on protecting the personal data of an individual, these companies conducting business in the Europe must be extremely cautious with how they handle and process their customer data. 

Read more on Fortune: http://fortune.com/2017/02/14/google-microsoft-cisco-privacy-profiling-artificial-intelligence/

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How Trump’s Executive Order Affects EU-US Privacy Rights

Donald Trump

What does the Trump Administration mean for the EU-US Privacy Shield?

 

It’s no secret that the Trump administration is causing a big stir in the global, political soup. Initially enacted in July 2016, the EU-US Privacy Shield set out to regulate what data can be shared between businesses on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and how that data can be utilized. It is inherently designed so data protection laws can be sustained between European Union member states and the United States.

What is the Privacy Shield?

The Privacy Shield is crucial for both American and European businesses to guarantee citizens of both countries to have protected transfer of data that it is not subject to mass surveillance. The European Commission outlines it in their Citizen’s Guide:

“The Privacy Shield allows your personal data to be transferred from the EU to a company in the United States, provided that the company there processes (e.g. uses, stores and further transfers) your personal data according to a strong set of data protection rules and safeguards. The protection given to your data applies regardless of whether you are an EU citizen or not.”

On January 25th, just a few days into his presidency, Trump signed an Executive Order ensuring that “…privacy policies exclude persons who are not United States citizens or lawful permanent residents from the protections of the Privacy Act regarding personally identifiable information.”

The new administration brings up questions concerning privacy and what this means for technology companies based in the US.

Read more on TechCrunch.

With its headquarters in Europe, UR abides by strict EU laws which strongly favor user privacy. Your private data is yours—nothing is collected or stocked. Learn more here.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

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